【The owner of this apartment has a habit.】

【What habit?】

【Whenever he hears a noise at night, he will come to check it out, even if it's just the sound of a door opening, he can hear it.

And, he is very sensitive to the direction of the sound. As long as you make a noise anywhere in the apartment, he will arrive in exactly two minutes, regardless of the distance, not more, not less, exactly two minutes.】

【How does that help us?】

【Of course, the sequence of the noises matters, meaning if noises are made in different places, he will first check the place where he heard the noise first, and then go to the next place where he heard the noise.

So, you can use this to your advantage, make some noise to attract him, and then leave before he arrives, and you'll be safe.】

【What if... what if he catches me?】

【If you run into him, don't panic, run to a room immediately.

Even if you die, at least you can restart the cycle.

If you die in the hallway or some other place, that might not be the case.

Susu, I’ve told you everything I know. This might be our only chance to get out of here, so the rest is up to you.】

I was silent for a moment, then replied: 【Got it, I’ll figure something out.】

Our messaging ended there for the time being.

For the rest of the day, I kept pondering how to get the key from the second floor.

Flipping through my journal, except for the three rooms on the second floor, I had sketched out the layout of the entire apartment clearly.

After all, having died sixty times, I had gathered quite a bit of critical information.

After a day of thinking, we came up with a relatively feasible plan.

Huixin and I decided to take action tomorrow night, after the sun set.

First, I would open the door to my own room, so the monster residing on the second floor would definitely hear the noise and come to my room in two minutes.

To avoid running into the monster, we had to hide in Room 301 within two minutes.

Once the monster entered the room I lived in, Room 303, I would quickly go up to the second floor.

As Huixin said, while I’m on the second floor, the monster will go check Room 301.

Because opening the door to Room 301 will also make a noise.

I had to take advantage of the interval while he was in Room 301 to get into his bedroom and find the key.

This interval only lasts two minutes because after the monster finds no one in Room 301, it will take two minutes to return to the second floor.

At this point, I’d face a challenge: there are three rooms on the second floor, and I wouldn’t know which one is the bedroom.

Huixin also told me that I had to not only choose the right bedroom but also avoid choosing the study room.

Because there is another monster in the study room, if I open the door to the study, it would be a dead end.

If I'm lucky and find the bedroom on the first try,

after finding the key, I need to choose the correct bathroom from the remaining two rooms. At this time, the monster would have returned to the second floor, and I must hide in the bathroom to avoid being seen by the monster.

After the monster checks the bedroom, I can seize the chance to go back to the third floor to save Huixin, who is trapped in Room 302, and then both hide in Room 301. At this point, the monster will come to Room 302, and we can go to the basement and leave this place in one go.

Of course, if I’m unlucky and don’t choose the bedroom on the first try?

Here's the list of door-opening sequences and results I came up with.

You can see that as long as I don't open the study room in my two attempts, everything will be fine.

I have two other concerns: first, even if I choose the bedroom correctly, can I find the key within two minutes?

Second, there is a woman living in Room 304; I mustn't alarm her, or she might go crazy and ruin my plan.

The next day, I mentally prepared myself all day.

Time flew by, and as soon as the sun set, I came out of my room.

Just in case, I held a fruit knife in my hand.

The door made an old creaking sound as I opened it.

At that moment, I knew the monster downstairs had definitely heard it and would be there in two minutes. I turned my attention to Room 301 on the other side of the hallway, and prepared to dash there as quickly as possible.

My footsteps were quick, and I reached Room 301 in less than half a minute, immediately shutting the door behind me.

Soon after, I heard footsteps at the other end of the hallway; the monster had probably arrived.

Then, I heard the footsteps receding, followed by the sound of a door opening elsewhere.

I immediately dashed out of Room 301 and headed down to the second floor.

Upon reaching the second-floor hallway, I indeed saw three rooms: 201, 202, and 203.

All three doors looked identical with no distinguishable features.

I wasted no time, having already decided beforehand, and headed straight to the innermost Room 203, turning the doorknob.

I chose Room 203 for a reason; generally, bedrooms or bathrooms are located at the innermost part.

To my relief, I was right; Room 203 was the bathroom.

Taking a deep breath, I was confident that the monster had reached Room 301 by then.

Without hesitation, I rushed towards the doors of Room 201 and Room 202.

At this point, I had a fifty-fifty chance, life and death equally balanced.

The monster was almost there; I took a deep breath and aimed for Room 202, placing my hand on the door handle and gently twisting it.

Just then, I heard a creaking sound behind me as the door to Room 201 suddenly opened.